Adams v. State

A person identified as Adams asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to review a decision of the Court of Appeals of Georgia in a case against the State. The Supreme Court initially granted certiorari, meaning it agreed to hear the case, and the parties and several outside groups (amici curiae) filed briefs on both sides. After reviewing the full record and those briefs, the court concluded that it had made a mistake in agreeing to take the case, a decision courts describe as the writ of certiorari being improvidently granted. Rather than ruling on the underlying legal question, the court vacated its earlier order accepting the case and denied the petition for certiorari, leaving the Court of Appeals of Georgia's decision as the final word.

The court held only that its earlier grant of certiorari was improvidently made, meaning it should not have agreed to hear the case, so it vacated that grant and denied the petition without deciding the underlying legal issue.

For Adams and the State, this means the Court of Appeals of Georgia's ruling stands unchanged, since the Supreme Court never reached the merits. It also signals to lawyers that even after certiorari is granted, the court can still decline to decide a case.

Writ of certiorari vacated; petition for certiorari denied

1. The court reviewed the full record and the briefs submitted by the parties and by amici curiae, meaning outside groups who file briefs to offer additional viewpoints.
2. Based on that review, the court determined that its earlier decision to accept the case for review, called granting certiorari, had been improvidently granted, meaning it should not have agreed to hear the case.
3. Because the grant of certiorari was improper, the court vacated that grant and denied the petition, leaving the Court of Appeals of Georgia's decision in place without the Supreme Court ruling on the substance of the dispute.

• certiorari
• improvidently granted
• Court of Appeals of Georgia